10 Gb/s free space optical interconnect with broadcasting capability enabled by a silicon integrated optical phased array

Abstract

We have proposed and experimentally demonstrated a reconfigurable free space optical interconnect with broadcasting capability based on an eight-channel silicon integrated optical phased array. By using the silicon integrated beam steering and broadcasting device, 10 Gb/s on–off keying data is transmitted over 15 cm in free space for up to three receivers located in three different cards. The experimental results show that the optical phased array can be used with broadcasting capability provided to multi-receivers in the card to card optical interconnects, which can significantly reduce device size, system complexity, and total costs.